Samsung announced that it has launched an upgraded version of its horizontal LCD phone, a new form-factor introduced by the company last year.

The SCH-V600 boasts a more compact design and improved features while maintaining the basic product concept of its popular predecessor, the SCH-V500.

The V500 took the market by storm with its first-ever innovative pivotal LCD screen which allows users to view images and video files horizontally. The product won the Presidential Award at the Good Design Competition held by the Korea Institute of Design Promotion in October 2004.

The improved V600 has a more sophisticated design and smaller size. The length was reduced by 6.5mm, the width by 3.3mm and the thickness by 1.6mm. Despite the smaller size, the buttons are spaced for ease of use.

Embedded with a high-speed MSM 6500 CPU chip, the V600 offers faster menu selection and an enhanced gaming experience. Two horizontal mode games and three vertical mode games are embedded in the phone.

The V600 obtained a national certification, S-Mark, for its anti-bacterial silver nano-particle coating technology. Other state-of-the art features such as a 1.3 megapixel camera and external transflash memory chip make this new phone even more appealing.

The phone will be available in Korea at the end of this month.

SCH-V600 Product Specifications

Standard CDMA 2000 1X EV-DO
Dimensions 92.5mm x 48.7mm x 29.3mm
Weight 127.2g
Display 1.9-inch 262K Color TFT LCD (176mm x 220mm)
Camera 1.3 Megapixel
External Memory TransFlash

Special Features
Vertical MOD/VOD
Stereo Speaker
64 Polyphonic Ringtones
GPS/Remote Control
MP3/E-Card capabilities/ Mobile Banking